In one known gas sensor for determining the concentration of a gas component, especially oxygen, in exhaust gases of internal combustion engines (German Published Patent Application No. 199 24 319), the protective tube developed as a so-called double protective tube is made up of a measuring chamber, in which the gas-sensitive sensor section lies, surrounded by an inner tube and an outer tube situated concentrically thereto, which enclose a hollow space between them and have gas passage openings for the exhaust gas. In order to avoid that drops of water, carried along distributed in the exhaust gas or created by condensation, deposit on the hot sensor element and trigger the formation of cracks, which leads to the functional failure of the sensor element, flow elements are situated at the gas passage openings which divert the exhaust gas in the direction of the inner lateral surfaces of the inner and outer tube, and thus bind the water drops to the inner lateral surfaces. As a result of the increasing temperature of the exhaust gas, the water subsequently evaporates.